Our newest Carbonfree® Business Partner, CRG Sustainable Solutions (CRGss) of Memphis, Tennessee, spends each day helping their client organizations create innovative and long-term sustainable business practices. According to the CRGss website, “Sustainability is about the resources we use every day, and the future that each of us will face. The fate of our earth is up to each of us individually, so every choice we make, we should have tomorrow in mind.”

CRGss was attracted to the Carbonfree® Business Partnership program as a simple, affordable step they could take as an organization to enhance their own operational sustainability. By neutralizing their estimated annual carbon emissions from general business operations, CRGss is leading in the same area of sustainability on which it advises and guides its clients.

“We believe that we must begin to respect the planet, and live and conduct business in a manner that does not harm the environment,” explains Anthony Gilbreath, Director of Sustainability Solutions at CRGss, about the decision to become a Carbonfree® Business Partner.

CRGss uses CarbonCount™, a suite of carbon management consulting services designed to help organizations with the entire range of carbon management and performance activities. Services include carbon management scoping, greenhouse gas and emissions Inventory, and carbon emissions reporting in compliance with all major international reporting standards, including the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the Carbon Disclosure Project.

As businesses and organizations become more conscious of environmental risks, carbon emissions management is gaining a more crucial role in performance management. Carbon management allows companies to improve performance across the entire organization, from lower costs and energy consumption to lower compliance and financial risk. For those companies that have analyzed and reduced emissions across their organization, the move to carbon neutrality is the next step in sustainability. With consultancies like CRGss and programs like the Carbonfree® Business Partnership, businesses have the guidance and the affordable access to achieve these goals.

Like Grainger, Eco Alkalines™ batteries are committed to environmental sustainability and green innovation. Eco-Alkalines™ batteries are environmentally friendly and landfill safe. They are manufactured with earth friendly derivatives and contain 0% trace amounts of harmful metals such as Mercury, Cadmium and Lead.

Eco Alkalines™ batteries have been certified Carbonfree® by Carbonfund.org Foundation and NSF Sustainability for the past three years. This program requires that the batteries’ complete cradle-to-grave life cycle is analyzed, the per-unit carbon emissions is determined then neutralized for each battery unit sold. In addition to neutralizing life cycle carbon footprints, the batteries continue to meet and exceed some of the most important international standards such as PAS 2050 (carbon label standard) and ISO 14044 (life cycle assessment standard), and they can be used to count towards prerequisites and credits in LEED certified building projects and building operation.

In addition to their innovative and unique green credentials and applications, Eco Alkalines™ perform equal to or better than the leading national brands in performance and longevity tests. Eco Alkalines™ have a guaranteed 5-year shelf life and a unique patented leak resistant seal ensuring that they will not leak into your devices.

Despite their pioneering eco accolades and novel technology, Eco Alkalines™ batteries are competitively priced compared to the leading national brands. As eco-friendly technology evolves to a ‘must’ rather than a choice, Eco Alkalines™ does not believe that consumers and companies should have to pay a premium for a green product.

Eco Alkalines™ is a great choice for environmentally-conscious consumers, as the brand continues to create an environmental awareness with a message of its commitment to reduced world-wide carbon emissions and its suggestion to use recycled material and recycle when and where possible. Customers can purchase Eco Alkalines™ batteries and other green products through a retail branch, in the 2013 Grainger catalog or on www.grainger.com and www.acklandsgrainger.com.

According to the Carbon Disclosure Project, cloud computing can help companies realize $12.3 billion in energy savings and reduce carbon emissions by 85.7 million metric tons annually by the year 2020. This staggering carbon emissions reduction figure is equivalent to mitigating the emissions from almost 181 million barrels of oil each year.

These compelling statistics are creating a surge in cloud computing options and providers; the challenge is to find the right provider offering the breadth of computing services, systems security and deliver the flexibility required by each business.

Chicago-based Steadfast Networks offers an additional benefit to its customers by operating in a CarbonFree® environment.Steadfast Networks calculates the annual carbon emissions from all base operations and neutralizes those emissions by supporting Carbonfund.org’s carbon reduction and clean air technology projects. Steadfast Networks also provides a CarbonFree® option to all customers by calculating and mitigating specific operational emissions through Carbonfund.org for each customer’s dedicated or co-located server energy consumption.

"At Steadfast, we're always looking for new ways to reduce our environmental impact. Carbonfund.org fit organically into our business model and so it was pretty much a “no brainer” for us," explains Karl Zimmerman, President and Chief Executive Officer at Steadfast Networks.

Steadfast Networks specializes in highly flexible cloud computing, including options for dedicated servers or collocation services at their fully redundant data centers in Chicago and New York. The facilities used by Steadfast Networks are highly engineered to assure reliability and maximize energy efficiency, resulting in a significantly reduced carbon footprint. Their status as a CarbonFree® Business Partner sets Steadfast Networks above the competition for companies seeking the most environmentally responsible options for cloud computing solutions.